1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to camera module components and more specifically to adjusting the optical alignment of camera components.
2. Description of the Related Art
The advent of small, mobile multipurpose devices such as smartphones and tablet or pad devices has resulted in a need for the mass production of high-resolution, small form factor cameras, capable of generating high levels of image quality, for integration in the devices. Mass production creates pressure to maximize throughput of the machines used for assembling these cameras.
Camera module active alignment is thought of in terms of an image quality driven process that aligns a camera module lens to the image sensor, taking into consideration the optical properties of the combined lens/sensor system rather than only considering the mechanical alignment in physically assembling and bonding these two components together, as typically done in a high-throughput, non-image quality driven conventional camera module lens holder attachment process. The intention of active alignment is to align the optical axis of the lens to the center of the image sensor, which itself has been placed orthogonal to the principal axis of the lens. While camera modules active alignment is a key process in assembling a high resolution compact camera with high levels of image quality, conventional active alignment methods have low throughput compared with the conventional mechanical alignment process, making it difficult and expensive to meet mass production demands. There is a need for a faster method to realize camera module active alignment for high throughput mass production.
Manufacturing tolerances of the lens elements placed into the lens barrel, as well as tolerances in component placement, result in tilt and decenter between the lens and sensor, which can degrade image quality in the finished camera, especially on the periphery of images taken by the camera, which may exhibit noticeable blur at the edges and sharpness at the center.